slight burning rubber smell

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boontis
Posts: 29
Joined: Thu Aug 03, 2017 12:57 pm
Location: Calgary, AB

slight burning rubber smell

Postby boontis » Thu Aug 03, 2017 1:08 pm

Hi all I'm new here - just bought a 2006 Pathfinder - I took it out for a ride with the 4x4 on to test it out and noticed a slight burned rubber smell afterward. This was dry pavement, outside temp about 27 C, and I was driving around 80kmph for about 10 mins. (good news no weird vibes or any other issues)

The smell was not coming from the tires, and seemed to go away after a couple minutes of stopping. (engine still idling)

I'm wondering if I could have overheated the transfer case a bit - or the t case oil was a bit low allowing it to get that hot?

I've been searching the forum to see if anyone else has reported the issue but didn't see anything similar. (I found a couple other vehicle forums where this was a heated up t case issue due to lower than ideal oil level)

Any thoughts? I'm hoping this isn't anything serious!

Kevin


Kestral
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Postby Kestral » Thu Aug 03, 2017 5:17 pm

Valve cover leak oil getting the exhaust and burning off? Just a guess?

boontis
Posts: 29
Joined: Thu Aug 03, 2017 12:57 pm
Location: Calgary, AB

Postby boontis » Thu Aug 03, 2017 8:05 pm

I can't see anything dripping - but the previous owners recently had the cats replaced and I'm wondering if something in or around there is burning off maybe? It doesn't smell like typical oil burn...

I drove it for a good while today on the highway (2wd only) and same smell came back - but not really as strong. (so thinking maybe not the t case)

A better way to describe the smell would be like halfway between rubber burning and like an electrical fire/wire smoke - I'm not a mechanic but I'm a pretty active DIY'er and I've never smelled this on a vehicle before.

Kestral
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Postby Kestral » Fri Aug 04, 2017 4:54 am

I just finished coating my frame on my R51 Pathy with rubberized undercoating and got some on the exhaust and for the last two weeks I have had that burning smell so anything on the exhaust like grease may take a while to burn off.

Did the truck come with some sort of a warranty when you bought it? Just in case it has an issue?

boontis
Posts: 29
Joined: Thu Aug 03, 2017 12:57 pm
Location: Calgary, AB

Postby boontis » Fri Aug 04, 2017 10:08 am

Unfortunately no warranty - but I think it may be due to the recent replacement of the cats and some locktite or other residue on them. Going to have a closer look tomorrow.

Thank you all for your ideas!

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labsy
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Postby labsy » Tue Aug 22, 2017 1:52 pm

Theoretically it could be a situation, when you have in 4HI, driving pavement and quite different profile on at least one tire. The difference between new and worn out tire might be up to 6 tire revolutions per mile! This can put some stress to LSD on back and transfer box if in 4HI.
Although it is very rare, I have seen vehicles triggering ABS and anti-slip countermeasures due to different wheel speeds. One BMW did not want to shift to 4th gear and it took half a dozen service records to properly diagnose the issue.

Check also under the hood if smell is stronger there. Might be belt came off to one side and rubs somewhere.

One other case was also brake pads changed by amateur, who put some grease to back of brake pads to prevent squeaking. This would be perfectly OK, if he'd use special purpose cooper-type brake grease, but instead he used normal grease, which begun smelling burnt after a while.

boontis
Posts: 29
Joined: Thu Aug 03, 2017 12:57 pm
Location: Calgary, AB

Postby boontis » Tue Sep 05, 2017 7:25 pm

Thanks @labsy - I've been poking around and the smell has been getting less and less so I think it was something that had come into contact with the new cats that the previous owner had replaced.

The smell is almost completely gone now...however as that smell has dissipated I'm able to smell some coolant...so now trying to zero in on that haha #fun


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